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7h ago

Machar Appears in Juba Court as Treason and Crimes Against Humanity Trial Opens

Machar’s lawyers contest the special court’s jurisdiction under the 2018 peace deal.

FILE - South Sudan's rebel leader Riek Machar speaks to the media about the situation in South Sudan following a peace agreement the week before with the government, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday, Aug. 31, 2015. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene, File)
South Sudanese ex-vice president Riek Machar has been charged with crimes against humanity in what his allies say is part of an attempt to sideline the opposition
Riek Machar is the perennial number two of South Sudan politics after surviving bush warfare, assassination attempts and exile
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Overview

  • The suspended first vice president made his first public appearance since March, seated in a barred enclosure during a televised hearing.
  • Prosecutors charge Machar with treason, murder, terrorism, conspiracy, destruction of property and crimes against humanity tied to a March attack on a Nasir garrison.
  • Authorities allege more than 250 soldiers were killed by a White Army assault ordered by Machar, a claim his faction rejects as politically motivated.
  • Seven others, including Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chol, appeared alongside Machar as co‑defendants at the special court in Juba.
  • UNMISS urged restraint as the unity government unravels, warning the confrontation risks a slide back into civil war.